Monday, December 7, 2009

Beginning with Windows Vista Microsoft removed HyperTerminal (aka HyperTerm & Hyper Terminal). Of course, this means it isn't in Windows 7 either. There are several options you can use to replace its functionality.

PuTTY is a free implementation of Telnet and SSH for Win32 and Unix platforms, along with an xterm terminal emulator.

WinRS (Windows Remote Shell)

If you only need remote shell access, you can use WinRS which was introduced in Windows Vista. To get help and see execution options with WinRS, run winrs /? at a command prompt.

Telnet is a simple, text-based program that you can use to connect to other devices over your local network or over the Internet. Telnet can be executed right from the command prompt, although you may have to enable it in Control Panel.

Phone and Modem Options can be used to troubleshoot modem problems

Open Phone and Modem Options by clicking the Start button, Control Panel, Hardware and Sound, finally Phone and Modem Options.

Realterm is a terminal program specially designed for capturing, controlling and debugging binary and other difficult data streams. It is far better for debugging comms than Hyperterminal. It has no support for dialing modems, etc – that is what hyperterminal does.

TeraTerm is another alternative to HyperTerminal. Tera Term is a free software terminal emulator (communication program) which supports:

AbsoluteTelnet Telnet, SSH, and SFTP Client. AbsoluteTelnet / SSH is a secure flexible terminal client that is suitable for developers, administrators, or deployment across the enterprise. It includes the industry standard SSH protocols to secure terminal session data across insecure environments such as the internet. Its new tabbed interface is a favorite among AbsoluteTelnet users.

XP's Hyper Terminal

If you really want (or just can't be without it) you can still use XP's Hyper Terminal. Just copy the following two files from an existing XP, Windows 2000 or 2003 box or extract them from the installation CD's of the previous OS's: hypertrm.dll and hypertrm.exe. Although you could put them anywhere on the disk as installation is not required, you may want to place them in %SYSTEMROOT% (normally C:\Windows\System32).